The present application relates generally to patient monitoring. It finds particular application in conjunction with the optimization of the frequency of data collection and thresholds for deterioration detection and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be understood that it also finds application in other applications, and is not necessarily limited to the aforementioned application.
Undetected patient deterioration in medical institutions has been identified as major safety consideration and cost driver for healthcare worldwide. Many early warning algorithms and deterioration detection systems are available today that are either based on aperiodic data collection (manual spot check vital signs) or via continuous data feed from patient monitoring systems. Studies have shown that typical spot check vital sign workflow is imperfect as the data needed to identify patient deterioration is typically acquired in an uncoordinated fashion which limits the clinical user ability to detect patient deterioration. Further, continuous data feeds increase the burden of the clinical user with workflow impediments such as sensor and leads off conditions, and battery management, requiring the maintenance of continuous physiologic signals to feed the algorithms. Further, existing patient monitoring systems leave the decision of how frequently to collect data and when to calculate a warning score up to the clinical user.
The present application provides a new and improved patient monitoring system which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.